Trump Adviser Says Nominee ‘Operates Now Almost Like A President’

Walid Phares, a foreign policy adviser to Donald Trump, said on Tuesday morning that the Republican nominee now acts more like a president, claiming that Trump listens to his advisers.

Phares comment came as he was discussing Trump’s Monday speech in which the GOP candidate said he would use “extreme vetting” to keep potential terrorists from entering the United States. “Fox and Friends” co-host Brian Kilmeade asked Phares if this was a change in policy for Trump or an evolution from his initial proposed ban on Muslims coming into the country.

“That exactly shows the evolution and mature evolution based on input, on information,” Phares replied. “He actually operates now almost like a president, listening to advisers, people in the intelligence or [who] work in the intelligence defense, diplomacy. And the position is very normal.”

“He made the initial statement because of we didn’t know,” Phares continued. “Now that we know better, the response is extreme vetting, the response is alliance with Arab moderates and Muslim moderates around the world. So that shows basically that there is a strategy, not just a static position.”